


Asymptote

by awakened_treepanda



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, Basically the events of V3, Gen, Hence the lack of character tags, Honorifics, Oma Kokichi-centric, prompt: emotions, spoilers duh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 15:29:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16140149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awakened_treepanda/pseuds/awakened_treepanda
Summary: Seven moments. Seven emotions. Seven letters.It's a lie!A Danganronpa V3 fanfic focused on Kokichi Ouma. Prompt: Emotions.





	Asymptote

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey. Panda here, bringing out yet another Danganronpa V3 fanfic. Totally not obsessed. Yep.
> 
> Anyway, not much to be said here. This is literally the events of V3, except I'm elaborating more on some of Kokichi's particular moments in the game. Hence, the summary.
> 
> Also, I've heard that a work bearing a striking similarity to mine has appeared on AO3. Haha, yeah, that's plagiarism. If my source was accurate, then I don't know who copied my fic, but know that this is MY work. I've been working on this for OVER A MONTH. Alright? This is mine. Plagiarizers are dumb. 
> 
> With that out of the way, please enjoy Asymptote.  
> ~Panda

**.. - ... .- .-.. .. .**

* * *

  


The robot definitely intrigued him.

  


While Kokichi _was_ scared beyond his wits after waking up in a locker with no recollection of where he was or how he got there, hiding his fear was simple enough. He eyed the metal human in the derelict classroom with a mask of fascination.

  


“Wooooooow! Are you really a robot? Can you fly? Shoot lasers? Morph with other robots to form one big _super_ robot?!” he asked insistently, eyes wide and arms waving about in child-like excitement. 

  


The robot responded with a noise that suggested offense. “Please do not compare me to those sci-fi abominations! My mechanical origins do not make me any less human than you are,” it responded confidently, facial features contorting into, presumably, pride. “I am K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot, though I ask that you address me as Kiibo. Created by Professor Iidabashi, the leading authority in the field of robotics, I was given an AI capable of growing and maturing like a human brain, so I will not tolerate any robophobic remarks!” the machine stated indignantly.

  


Rather quickly, the Supreme Leader’s interest towards the robot diminished. He could already tell that ‘Kiibo’ was going to be boring and predictable, though that certainly wouldn’t stop him from teasing it with ‘robophobic’ remarks.

  


“Oh, I’m sooo sorry if I offended you,” Kokichi apologized, clearly insincere, “I’m Ouma Kokichi, the Ultimate Supreme Leader! It’s such a pleasure to meet you,” he sneered, “ _Kiiboy._ ”

  


“Wha—H-How rude!” Kiibo exclaimed, “I’ll have you know that I am perfectly capable of feeling emotions such as irritation and anger, Ouma-kun.”

  


_How easy_. “Huuuuuh?! But robots don’t have feelings, silly!”

  


“Grgh!”

  


Kokichi giggled unabashedly. While the robot’s character was as complicated as a brick, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was uptight, wary, and _gullible_.

  


Grinning with malicious intent, the Supreme Leader shortened the distance between them with a step forward, causing the other to retaliate with a step back. This was repeated until it escalated into the boy in white chasing the metal man with vigor.

  


“Heeey! Wait for meee!”

  


“Please stop! Don’t come any closer!”

  


Their little game of chase continued until two people, a girl followed by a boy, opened the door and entered the classroom. Reluctantly, the purplenette gave up the chase in favor of assessing the newcomers.

  


As the girl, Akamatsu Kaede, the Ultimate Pianist, conversed with Kiibo, Kokichi sized her up, concealing his intent with his occasional robophobic remark. The blonde seemed quite assertive and strong-willed, and her carefree, extroverted attitude slightly ticked him off considering their current situation. He could see her taking charge of all the Ultimates that were kidnapped, since whoever kidnapped them must’ve wanted more than just them, but her hopeful charisma may prove to do more harm than good.

  


When she turned her attention towards him, he of course replied with his usual lies. He certainly wasn’t about to trust these strangers with information about himself or DICE. The false truths rolled out of his tongue, and, as expected, the pianist and the robot quickly dismissed him. What he didn’t expect was the curious gaze of the tall boy in black linger a bit longer before returning their attention to the peppy blonde.

  


As the pair left the room, the Supreme Leader quietly smiled to himself. Ultimate Detective, Saihara Shuuichi...His hat may be hiding his eyes from view, but those grey-gold orbs seemed to hold far more intelligence than the others. He might be a little emo, but Kokichi had a feeling that the detective was definitely not boring.

  


What an intriguing situation he was in...

  


* * *

  


To say that he was troubled would be an understatement.

  


Kokichi laid flat on his bed, eyes focused on a point on the ceiling with a blank expression. Despite being alone, he couldn’t help but feel that he was being watched, as if he were a specimen trapped in a jar, held captive purely to be displayed like a prize to the masses. The feeling had his skin crawling, but it wasn’t possible, right? He had thoroughly searched his room for any hidden recording devices only to find none, so it must only be his imagination.

  


~~Unless the cameras were too small for the naked eye—~~

  


Groaning, he sat up. Naturally, his gaze was drawn towards the large whiteboard by the wall, the portraits of fifteen Ultimate students and five annoying bears occupying its pristine surface. He could still recall the despair on his classmates’ faces when Monokuma announced the killing game. Thankfully, his mask didn’t fail him then, because the very thought of killing turned his body to lead and shot through his morals with a golden bullet. 

  


Contrary to popular belief, the Supreme Leader was quite the pacifist. He absolutely despised the thought of taking another person’s life, resulting in his organization’s strict ‘no killing’ policy. Whoever created this dumb game and thought that a bunch of kids killing each other would be fun was probably either crazy or downright evil.

  


The purplenette rose from the bed and stood before his setup. Pushing the Monokubs aside, he sorted through each picture, evaluating the faces printed on them. He focused on those that had caught his attention as he arranged the portraits onto the whiteboard in alphabetical order. He didn’t have enough information to properly analyse everyone, but he worked with what he had.

  


_Amami Rantarou was suspicious._ The tall male had been a bit too calm and collected in their situation, as if he had already experienced it in the past. He had also seemed to know more than he let on…?

  


_Akamatsu Kaede was dangerous._ She may have been well-intentioned, but if she continued to fill the others with abstract hope, she’d only drown everyone in the despair that follows.

  


_Harukawa Maki was lying._ Edginess aside, she was definitely not the Ultimate Child Caregiver. The brunette seemed too sharp, too calloused to have taking care of kids as her talent. What reason could she have to keep her true nature a secret?

  


The fifteen portraits stared back at him, aligned and orderly. He regarded each face with varying degrees of skepticism. Some may be more suspicious than others, but overall, he knew not to trust any of them with the truth. Each of them were human (with an exception) and each of them could be given the motive to kill. Kokichi wanted no part in this ‘killing semester’ but when he played a game, he played to win. His rifle may have only been loaded with lie bullets, but he knew that even a fake shot could become the truth. Behind his mask of falsehoods and deceit, he was determined to undermine the mastermind of this fiendish game.

  


Returning to his mattress, the Supreme Leader mimicked his initial position. He was trapped in an academy with a quirky cast of characters who could potentially try to kill him, but he was confident in his lies. He knew how to manipulate people, and whether they liked it or not, he was going to use them to win this game.

  


~~But wouldn’t sixteen talented kids trying to kill each other make a great show?~~

  


With troubling thoughts plaguing him, the purplenette drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

  


* * *

  


The pianist’s sealed fate saddened him.

  


Of course, said emotion was deftly hidden behind his lies as Monokuma announced that Kaede was indeed the killer of Amami Rantarou. Everyone was shocked beyond belief with the exception of Kokichi and the Ultimate Detective, who appeared to be both anguished and conflicted. 

  


The Supreme Leader saw the blonde’s lies from a mile away; her movements and overall attitude cornered her into taking this gruesome course of action. Bright hope turned into blazing determination which, in turn, led her to believe that murder was the answer. It was disappointing.

  


At least, that was what he thought until Kaede revealed the truth. 

  


Honestly, he had to give her some credit. Throughout the phases of her plan, she only had them in mind. Her desire to escape and become friends with everyone, including him, may have led to her downfall, but he knew that it was thanks to her that his fourteen other classmates were still drawing breath.

  


If only that number weren’t about to become thirteen in a few minutes. 

  


“And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Punishment time!”

  


As the giant, the misandrist, and the Idiot™ valiantly protested to the pianist’s upcoming execution, Kokichi remained impassive, silently observing as Kaede ordered them to stop. Reluctantly, everyone listened with solemn expressions and rapt attention to the pianist’s final wish, some chiming in with their own declarations in response.

  


The Supreme Leader had initially thought that the blonde was just one of those absurdly optimistic and carefree characters that didn’t know when to give up. While he had been more of less accurate, he silently admitted that Akamatsu Kaede had been a great, albeit naïve, leader. Her charisma and words of affirmation moved those around her, loosely uniting them under a common hope. With her leading the way, everyone had managed to set aside their differences to try and overcome the adversity before them. Though the challenged proved to be too great, the failure only spurred her to try harder, which inevitably kickstarted the killing game. She may have been a liar, but…

  


“Well, Akamatsu-chan, you definitely weren’t boring.”

  


She spared him no glance as she spoke with Shuuichi for what would be the last time.

  


He trained his eyes on her even as she was executed, refusing to look away from her final moments.

  


After her successful punishment, the trial room was engulfed in silence. At least, until the Monokubs ( _Oh, did one of them die during the execution? He didn’t notice_ ) broke it with their usual theatrics. Needless to say, everyone ignored them in favor of lowering their heads, as if to pay their respects. With the death of the pianist, the gravity of their situation seemed to have finally hit each and every one of them as hard and as unexpectedly as when Kaito’s fist made contact with the detective’s cheek.

  


As Shuuichi collapsed to the floor in shock, Kokichi rolled his eyes but let the situation play out. The violent method may have been effective in snapping the taller male out of his silence, but there were much better ways to go about it than socking him in the face.

  


One by one, the Ultimates (with the exception of the detective and the astronaut) boarded the elevator that would return them to the surface. Upon arriving, the crowd dispersed, most heading towards the dormitories in the hopes of some peace after the tragedy that had occurred. Secretly, the Supreme Leader snuck off to explore the strange academy yet again. Wading through the tall grass behind the main building, he noticed a slab of rock partially buried under the earth. What had caught his interest were the words written on the smooth stone in black ink.

  


**horse a**

  


Eyeing the message, a muddled, half-baked plan began forming in Kokichi’s mind, pushing aside the saddening image of a hanging body.

  


* * *

  


He wasn’t one to be caught off-guard, but falling through the floor certainly alarmed him.

  


While Shuuichi had his hands full investigating the scene of the crime, the purplenette took it upon himself to check where no one had thought to: the empty rooms flanking the one used to hold the seance. 

  


Though he doubted that anyone else had realized it yet, Kokichi knew that the loud noise that sounded during the ritual could have only come from the floorboards. Specifically, it came from one end of the floorboard hitting its supporting crosspiece, causing the other end to thrust downwards before leveling out. If this theory was true, then Tenko’s killer had to have sawed off the same exact crosspiece from all three rooms. They probably prepared their trick in advance to be able to perform the seance in any of the empty spaces. This possibility only proved to further incriminate a certain anthropologist. 

  


Kokichi exited the Ultimate Anthropologist’s lab, the Caged Dog Village document in hand. Korekiyo’s murder plan was pretty straightforward, but he had yet to figure out how the masked individual managed to find his way to the spot where his trap had lay in complete and utter darkness. Perhaps he had altered the magic circle after all…?

  


Upon arriving at one of the two unused rooms, the short male halted that train of thought. Before anything else, he had to confirm and prove that there was a missing crosspiece in all of the rooms.

  


The others ought to thank him for what he was about to do. 

  


Casually, he entered the room, leaving the door open to allow light into the pitch black quarters. With an air of obliviousness, the Supreme Leader walked forward, positioning his arms behind his head in a carefree manner. With each step, the sapling of dread planted in his heart kept growing larger and larger until— 

  


The floorboard beneath his foot gave out, allowing gravity to pull all ninety-seven pounds of him down to the ground. Thanks to the seesaw effect, the other end of the long plank of wood rose and promptly smacked him in the face.

  


Kokichi had already prepared himself mentally for the upcoming rush of pain, but it seemed as though no amount of anticipation could have possibly prevented the instinctive cry of surprise that begrudgingly went past his lips. Dazed, he went limp onto the wooden surface, one leg still trapped within, and forced himself not to fall unconscious. After the black dots faded away from his vision and the world stopped spinning around him, the purplenette slowly but surely dragged his leg out of the floor and, with gritted teeth, crawled out of the dark room.

  


The warm blood escaping the gash on his forehead trickled down his face as he made it to the hallway. Why had he thought that this was a good idea again? He had tried to recall why he had done such a stupid move in the first place when the sound of footsteps caught his attention. In a panic, he hurriedly flopped onto the floor. By the time the footsteps neared, he willed his head to move.

  


“It’s a lie!”

  


When his vision focused, he drank in the sight of a perplexed Shuuichi and Maki. Grinning, Kokichi stood up, ignoring the sharp throbbing of his head.

  


Giggling his signature laugh, he entertained the detective’s questions, confident that Shuuichi would be able to solve the murder thanks to his sacrifice. Once the bell rang, signaling that time was up, he hastily hinted at the potentially altered magic circle before wobbling away from the confused duo. Now alone, the injured male leaned against the wall for support as he made his way to the men’s bathroom to clean himself up. It was hard to think straight with, presumably, a concussion, but he couldn’t afford to rest. The class trial was certainly going to be a messy one, and Shuuichi would need his account if he wanted to convince his seven innocent classmates that Korekiyo was the culprit.

  


_Seven…_

  


Cleaning his wound, he grimaced at the alarming realization that their numbers were only getting smaller.

  


* * *

  


If there was someone that Kokichi loathed more than anyone, it was himself.

  


As the elevator rose with a muted whirr, the Supreme Leader stood against its wall, blank-faced. His gaze was focused on the closed metal doors in front of him, emotionless and unmoving.

  


_“Pathetic? Look at yourself, Ouma-kun.”_

  


His vision started to blur, eyes glistening. 

  


_“Kaito always has us by his side, see? But no one wants to be around you.”_

  


Salty droplets of water condensed on his eyelid margins.

  


_“You’re alone, Ouma-kun. And you always will be.”_

  


Against his will, frantic tears began to run down his cheeks. While his expression remained impassive and unreadable, the teardrops falling to the ground clearly contradicted his exterior persona. The Supreme Leader made no move to wipe them away, allowing them to seep out of his cracked mask. He knew that he shouldn’t be crying; he was vulnerable and susceptible to danger of any kind. Yet, the tears refused to stop, flowing freely and expressing his true feelings for him. The drops of salty water evinced everything he could not: the helplessness he felt when Miu trapped him in a corner and pushed him past his limits, the remorse from when the inventor’s low quality avatar twitched for the last time, the feeling of guilt that overcame him when Gonta was declared the murderer— 

  


Kokichi knew that he was losing it. The killing game’s tidal wave of despair and malice was overwhelming his character, his morals, his _everything_. It forced him to indirectly break his own policy, resulting in the burdensome weight of two, innocent lives on his shoulders. His sanity was being grated against barbed wire ( _who wore barbed wire around their neck again?_ ) as he continued to trudge forward, moving past each and every death of a classmate. 

  


He hadn’t actually meant to play the role of villian, now that he thought about it. Lying had always been his sword, shield, and staff, protecting him and helping others in various ways. From slashing through people’s false and naive notions to casting a spell of manipulation over those around him, lying was his means of contributing to the group, despite their disapproval. 

  


Perhaps if they weren’t in this life-or-death game, he might not have abused his lies so much that his attempts to help them would only be received with disdain and annoyance.

  


Before he could ponder more over the matter, the elevator went still, a quiet ding informing its sole passenger of their arrival. With practiced skill, the purplenette used his bandana to erase any trace of his prior vulnerability, rendering his expression devoid of any emotion whatsoever. Calmly, he stepped out into the Shrine of Judgment, lit dimly by the ‘moon’ above him. As the Supreme Leader slowly made his way towards the the exit, the inevitable bomb of panic burst in his chest. _Should he do it? Did he account for every factor? Was it too early to execute his plan—_

  


Kokichi stopped in front of crimson double doors that loomed over him. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before solidifying his resolve. No, he couldn’t let these fears bludgeon him from behind. He couldn’t allow these spiky threads of anxiety to slow him down. He didn’t have the luxury to let anxiety boil him alive. He couldn’t…

  


He couldn’t stop now. He had to end it. He had to kill the killing game before it killed everyone else. Even if the outside world was long _gone_ , even if his family was nothing more than _ash_ , even if everything about Ouma Kokichi was a _lie_ , he was going to force the mastermind into **checkmate**. 

  


_Even if he had nothing to fight for, he was going to win._

  


That’s what he told himself as he pushed the doors open, a maniacal grin adorned on his face. Flawlessly, he acted out his role as the ‘antagonist’ of the story, hands stuffed into his pockets, where a permanent black marker lay within.

  


Without hesitation, he continued his performance, loathing his false self more and more with each passing second.

  


* * *

  


He was about as irritated as the open wounds on his body.

  


“God, Momota-chan, can’t you be more gentle?!”

  


“We’re in a race against time, and you want me to be _gentle_?!”

  


With a grunt, the astronaut-in-training dragged the Supreme Leader by the arms across the Exisal hanger, hastily but not roughly. Though his arm and back screamed in protest from the force and the friction respectively, Kokichi held back his curses and focused on the fact that Kaito had actually agreed to his plan.

  


He was grateful, but he wasn’t going to admit that anytime soon.

  


Or ever, now that he thought about it.

  


“...Hey, Ouma.”

  


His thoughts came to a halt as the cold realization chose that moment to stab him, as if he didn’t have enough punctures.

  


“Ouma? Hey, Ouma!”

  


He was going to die. Because of a damn miscalculation in his plan, _he was going to sacrifice himself to end the killing game—_

  


“OUMA!”

  


_“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT, MOMOTA-CHAN?!”_

  


Silence.

  


“...Jeez, I was just gonna ask you where you hid the stuff we’ll be using for the plan.” Kaito muttered, miffed by the sudden outburst.

  


Kokichi’s breath hitched, and, before he could stop himself, he mumbled, “...Sorry.”

  


The taller purplenette froze, presumably in surprise. 

  


_If only he could’ve seen his face._

  


“Did...Did you just apologi—”

  


“If you have time to run your mouth, you have time to prepare! C’mon, we’re almost at the hydraulic press,” the shorter male scolded, forcing his reluctant partner-in-crime to huff in frustration before doubling his efforts in moving him to their destination.

  


An eternity of annoying green ceiling lights later, Kokichi’s field of vision became occupied by Kaito as the latter moved to prop him up against the railing of the hydraulic press’s control panel staircase. After making sure that the Supreme Leader was in a stable position, the astronaut-in-training looked at him, eyes asking the unspoken question.

  


“Camera’s in the red exisal.”

  


With a nod, he moved towards the aforementioned object, finally leaving the shorter purplenette to his thoughts— 

  


“So, did you actually apologize to me earlier?”

  


Or not. 

  


“I dunno, Momota-chan. Maybe your ears lied to you?” he retorted, too annoyed to prevent the sarcasm from spilling into his tone.

  


Surprisingly, his response was met with silence. Kokichi tried his best to face towards his companion’s location, only to sigh when his body failed to do so. Resigned, he opted to wait until Kaito returned to his side, biting his lip and combing over his plan once more in the meantime.

  


Record the false footage, swap places, then put his faith in the idiot of an astronaut. The thought made him cringe and mentally run through each swear word in his internal dictionary. He hadn’t thought it’d come to this, and that was his mistake. He was careless, and that carelessness caused the mastermind to slip through his fingers and shred his carefully crafted plan with ease. Thanks to his slip-up, the plan he had crafted with careful meticulousness turned out to only be part of his opponent’s strategy. In the end, he was only being used like a pawn for their convoluted setup.

  


It was _infuriating._

  


By the time Kaito returned, the Supreme Leader’s lip was bleeding. The former raised a brow, but made no comment, hoisting the latter up to carry him towards the control panel. Once the camera was in position and the poisoned male, though struggling to stay afoot, was in place, the astronaut-in-training moved to lie underneath the hydraulic press.

  


Kokichi’s hands hovered over the camera’s and hydraulic press’ record and down buttons respectively. 

  


“Ouma,” Kaito mumbled.

  


“What is it now, Momota-chan?”

  


“Did you mean it?”

  


“Mean what?”

  


“The apology. Did you really mean it?”

  


At first, the shorter male was confused. Why was he bringing this up now, of all times? It was just a random— 

  


Oh. 

  


“...Yes,” he reluctantly replied, “I meant it. How you interpret that apology is up to you.”

  


Before the other had a chance to reply, Kokichi pushed both buttons at the same time, subconsciously irritated by the _irritating_ smile on Kaito’s face.

  


* * *

  


Ouma Kokichi was exhausted.

  


The metal slab of the hydraulic press inched closer and closer to his face. Instinct urged him to escape, but his body had practically become a vegetable. All he could do was stare helplessly at cold, dull grey.

  


~~His only solace was the warmth of the galaxy-themed jacket beneath him, left behind by an idiot he had no choice but to trust.~~

  


He had heard that, at the moment of a person’s death, the entirety of their life flashes before them, reminding them of the marks they had left on the world over the course of their existence. At the time, he hadn’t been sure whether or not the information was accurate, but, as he experienced the very last seconds of his life, he confirmed that it was, in fact, true.

  


Memories zipped past his mind in a flurry, disorganized and blurry. He remembered various moments during the killing game, regardless of their importance. Every experience, from him pissing people off with his lies to him discovering the secret of the outside world to him having a rare moment of happiness with the others surfaced, and while he recalled each and every one, seven particular moments left an emotional impression on him:

  


The intriguing idea of an unfamiliar environment, an odd robot, and grey-gold eyes.

  


The troubling possibilities of the killing game, its dangers, and his anxious thoughts.

  


The saddening image of a blonde pianist, paired with a silent detective and letters on a rock.

  


The alarming feeling of peril, of uncertainties and of warm liquid running down his face.

  


The loathing truth that had been shot through him by a protagonist’s truth bullet.

  


The irritating fact that he had been outsmarted by the mastermind, and that he had been forced to put his faith in someone else for once.

  


The exhaustion, physically weighing down his lean figure and mentally driving his complicated thoughts to a halt.

  


Kokichi blinked. _Actually, now that he thought about it…_

  


Weakly, the corners of his mouth perked upwards, a small, psychotic smile forming on his face just as the hydraulic press touched his nose.

  


“N—Neeheehee! Nee—heeheeh-hee!” his signature giggle croaked out of him, deranged and unsettling. In the face of death, Kokichi laughed. 

  


He **laughed**.

  


**hE kEPt LAuGhINg.**

  


_helaughedattheironyof—_

  


And Ouma Kokichi’s exhausting laughter was heard no more.

  


* * *

**Asymptote /ˈasəm(p)ˌtōt/**  
_noun_  


a line that a curve approaches closer and closer but will never intersect with.

* * *

  


Amidst destroyed edifices and struggles long past, a boy stood proud, looking towards a future enshrouded in light with his mutual companions.

  


Though he knew that the story was over at last, he couldn’t help but reminisce about a certain someone’s endearing laugh. That white liar may have been a contradiction in and of himself, but his duality was the trigger that shot through the fallacies and paved the way to the end of the long-running spiral of false hope. The mischievous gunman’s lie bullets , though intolerable, tiresome, and sadistic, were later something to be appreciated, as his accurate marksmanship brought forth a lasting, impartial, and effulgent conclusion.

  


...After a moment, the male giggled to himself in realization.

  


* * *

**.. - ... .- .-.. .. .**

**Author's Note:**

> I love Kokichi so much. He's one of the most complex characters I've ever seen. He may be overwhelmingly popular to the point that he's somewhat overrated, but his fame (or infamy) is well deserved.
> 
> Meanwhile, did you catch all the references?  
> 
> 
>   
> 
> 
> ...Did you notice why I used the emotions I used?
> 
> Feel free to comment below about any typos or errors!  
> ~Panda


End file.
